Chocolate Dirt Pudding Cups

Just kidding. Did I fool you? It’s okay if I didn’t, you can still tell me I did. 😉

April Fools!

I don’t really know anyone who gets into pranks on April Fool’s Day, thank goodness because I do not handle those kinds of things very well. I would much rather surprise someone with something that doesn’t look like food, but actually is food. Like little potted plants that are secretly full of pudding, ganache, and Oreo crumbs.

Surprise! I fed you something you didn’t think was edible but totally is!

That is my kind of prank right there.

There was this one time my friend Laura and I pulled a prank on my cousins and it might be the only prank I’ve ever attempted.

Each summer, my family takes a trip to the beach. And not just me and my parents, like all of my dad’s side of the family. We used to go to Destin, FL, but one year when I was probably in middle school, there was a hurricane in the Gulf, so we decided to go to Gatlinburg, TN instead. We rented this massive cabin in the mountains and it was awesome. If you’ve ever been to Gatlinburg, you probably know that a ton of people get married there. On our drive up, we passed several cars that said “Just Married” on the back. So, early the morning we left to go home, my friend and I wrote “Just Married” across the back of my cousins’ car. We wrote all their names on the windows and covered it in hearts. And the four of them, all guys, drove home in that car. I was told that they totally rolled with it too, and played it up all the way home.

Have you ever made Dirt before? I hope you have. It’s one of the easiest and tastiest desserts around. Usually it’s made with crushed Oreos and a cream cheese, pudding, Cool Whip mixture. It all gets layered up in a glass bowl and hangs out in the fridge over night. Then the Oreos are soft and so, so good. Almost like cake. You’ve all heard me gush on and on about that before, though.

Some people top it with gummy worms, and somehow I always forget about those.

I got the inspiration for these little Dirt Cups, at least visually, from these Potted Espresso and Caramel Mud Cakes by Sweetapolita. I really wanted to use the chocolate “rocks” she uses, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. I could have ordered them online, but they wouldn’t have been here in time for April Fools. The only other place I know has them for sure is Yogurt Mountain and I was not about to walk in there and by a cup full of their candy toppings. (I totally should have.)

You only need six ingredients to make the “dirt” part of these plants. The glass flower pots are actually tiny candle holders, and I bought them at Michael’s for 99 cents each! I used some plain round candle holders as well, and two glass teacups I bought at the thrift store forever ago. I like the mix-and-match look of these, but you can use whatever shapes you want. This recipe made about 8 pudding cups for me, but it really depends on the size of the cups you use.

Combine pudding mix and milk in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Transfer bowl to the refrigerator so it will thicken up.

In a two-cup measuring cup or microwave safe bowl, add chocolate chips and heavy cream. Microwave for 1 minute, remove, and stir. Place the bowl back in the microwave, heat for 30 seconds, and stir. If the chocolate chips aren't quite melted at this point, let the ganache sit for a few minutes and try stirring again. Set aside to cool.

In a food processor, pulverize Oreos in batches of 6 or 7. The finer the crumbs, the better. A few lumps are okay though.

Remove pudding from the refrigerator and fold in Cool Whip. Transfer pudding mixture to a piping bag and cut off a small piece of the tip.

Transfer cooled ganache to a squeeze bottle, or another piping bag with a tiny tip cut off.

Spoon Oreo crumbs into the bottom of each glass pot or cup. Pipe a layer of pudding without touching the sides of the pot. (Unless you want the layers to be visible.) Drizzle ganache over the pudding, and cover with another layer of Oreo crumbs, making sure to fill in between the side of the glass and the pudding. Repeat, and end with a layer of crumbs on the top.

Cover and store in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

When you're ready to serve, add the mint leaves and enjoy!

Recipe frombethcakes. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without permission. If you would like to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.

Recipe from Bethcakes. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.

This is the cutest post ever Beth! It totally had me and made me laugh. Your photos are absolutely gorgeous – so bright. I could never make “dirt” (even if it is edible) look this great! So funny about the “Just Married” on the car – love it! Pinned!

I used to love “dirt” desserts as a kid. This post brings back so many memories. I am pretty sure my younger self would have died over this prank… but maybe not as much as my adult self, ha! Love, love, love this so much, Beth. Clever and perfect for Spring!

I love this idea so much, Beth, that I might just have shared it everywhere …. lol! Plus, it’s definitely going on Pinterest so that I can make it for my children some day … haha! More like for myself and hubby when we need a good laugh one day next week! Seriously, though, I LOVE this fun idea! So simple and yet it really looks like a plant! Brilliant!

Beth, these are just darling! They are bringing back a ton of childhood memories (though yours are much classier than my dirt cups topped with gummy worms of yore :). I want to make a whole batch of these to welcome spring!

I LOVE DIRT CUP!!!!!! It’s the first dessert I remember learning to make as a kid, from my kid’s jello cookbook hahahaha. It still is one of my all-time fave summertime desserts. I could eat an entire batch of the stuff without coming up for air. SO good!